Derek Porter
United States
Bangor
Maine
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One of the things that originally drew me to TI was the Political aspect of the game. The concept of having politics and laws that could affect the game was intriguing. Unfortunately, the idea is good but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. I don't think that I'm alone in this; many have expressed that the Political aspect of the game is underwhelming at best.
It occurred to me that the reason for this is due to the random nature of the Political deck: the agendas that come up rarely reflect the actual political situation of the game. Sure, if you look through the Political deck you'll find cards that would be great in the right situation, but they're only effective if they actually come into play when you need them.
It would make more sense to have a set list of agendas that players could select from when playing the Primary ability of Political/Assembly, with the option to choose a random card from the Political deck. This way players can bring up agendas that have a meaningful impact on the game, instead of pulling a random card that doesn't really affect anyone or that no one cares about. Additionally, this would make the Political Intrigue option a lot more interesting as well as making the Xxcha's veto ability a lot more potent (and let's face it: the Xxcha could use a little boost).
The list of agendas would include:
-Increasing/decreasing costs for Technologies
-Closing the wormholes/making the wormholes all the same
-Preventing Trade between two players
As well as a few others that are generally useful; I don't have my list of Political cards in front of me. These cards would be removed from the deck, leaving only the odd or interesting ones (Ancient Artifact, etc.) Political Intrigue would work as it always does with this variant.
When a player uses Political:
-The active player can spend 2(?) Influence to select one of the agendas from the list to vote on, or spend no Influence and take the top card of the Political deck and resolve that instead.
Or
-Spend 5 Influence to call a "Veto" agenda to eliminate a Law already in play.
When using Assembly, the active player may:
-Give the Speaker token to another player, then choose one of the options above for 2 less Influence.
Or
-Take the Speaker token, and choose another player to resolve an agenda. The selected player may choose one of the options above for one less influence than normal.
*In this variant, it may be best to eliminate the ability to discard Political cards for 1 Trade Good, or increase it to 2 Political cards for 1 Trade Good, since the most interesting options would already be on the list.
The reasoning behind spending Influence is twofold:
-Thematically, it represents the political lobbying necessary to bring a new law before the Council.
-The options on the list are more generally useful/harmful, therefore more desirable.
The last restriction is that there can only be one of a particular Law in play: If there is a Law that restricts Trade between the Sol and the Winnu, then no one else can select that Agenda again unless it gets vetoed/voted out. This prevents a player with lots of Influence dominating everyone else with punitive Laws.
This is something that just occurred to me last night, and I realize that it probably needs a little work. Any and all feedback is appreciated!
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Steve Williams
United States
Columbus
Ohio
*GLRK**MLMPH*
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Check out this thread: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/674489/removing-politica...
I've been using it since the thread was posted and it gives a simple, much needed boost to Politics.
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Derek Porter
United States
Bangor
Maine
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I was already planning on using that list to determine which cards need to be on the permanent agenda list.
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Scott Randolph
United States
Arvada
Colorado
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IncrediSteve wrote:
I really like the list, and the idea of narrowing down the Political Action cards ("agendas / Laws"). Below is a variant I have been working on for awhile, borrowing some ideas from other players here on BGG, as well as a concept from "Conquest of the Empire II" (Eagle Games). I would be interested in your feedback.
(f) “Primacy” SC#1 – when executing the primary ability of this card, choose either option (a) claim the “Speaker” Token, and receive 2 Command Counters from your reinforcements, or (b) assign the “Speaker” token to any other player other than the player with the “Pro-Consul” Strategy Card (SC#3), and receive 3 Command Counters from your reinforcements, all players may then execute the secondary ability of the text on the original “Leadership” (SC#1) Strategy Card if they wish.
(g) “Pro-Consul” SC#3 {all players will eventually have 2 PA cards at game start, *Also see “Galactic Senate” HR#4 below) – when executing the primary ability of “Pro-Consul” SC#3 (do not assign ‘Speaker’) - player will:
• Draw 3 Action Cards (“AC’s”) and receive 1 TG - do not receive a Command Counter from your reserve
• Decide to call, or not to call, “Voice of the Council” (“VoC”)
• Draw the top Political Action (“PA”) card from the PA card deck and add it to the “Senate Floor”
• Player now selects any PA card from the “Senate Floor” and resolves its agenda per TI3-base SC#3 “Political” rules, *Note - this player receives a bonus of two extra votes
• After resolving the agenda, player draws the next 3 PA cards from the top of the deck and adds them to their hand of PA cards; The player must now discard 1 PA card, and then places 1 from their hand on top of the PA deck and also places 1 from their hand on the “Senate Floor” – now discard 1 PA card from the “Senate Floor”
4. Galactic Senate: Before the first Strategy Phase of the first GT (“Game Turn” aka “Game Round”), each player draws 1 TG & 5 Political Action (“PA”) cards. Each player will discard two, keep two “in-hand” and place one “On the ‘Floor’” of the “Galactic Senate.” The PA Cards before the Galactic Senate (those placed by each player on the ‘Floor’) are publically viewable by all players throughout the game. One PA card may be discarded by any Player at any point during the Status Phase for [1] TG.
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Christopher Halbower
United States
Muskegon
Michigan
Not Oswald!!!
Vic Mackey
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I've always liked the idea that the person who takes Political/Assembly gets to choose the agenda a la "Determine Policy". That would make Political/Assembly very useful under the right circumstances.
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Michael Cohen
United States
California
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This is what I do. A great deal of fun:
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/727220/vanderveckens-galacti...
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Scott Randolph
United States
Arvada
Colorado
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Vandervecken wrote:
I like this too, it's a bit involved though, but probably not too bad once you get used to it. The Strategy Cards, "Assembly" and "Political" (and their related "II's") really lack anything to do with "strategy" - it's just a random card (agenda) draw that may or may not have ANYTHING to do with the players / Great Races / game at-hand. I like your version, or mine, "Galactic Senate."
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Michael Cohen
United States
California
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I ran a game of this with my good friend Robo Fish recently.
The conclusion we reached was that this:
a) increased the play time for Politics (though we played 4-player so Assembly came up every round.
b) massively improved the arbitrary nature of politics cards, such as dealing with the problem where a random politics card shows up that completely fucks you.
c) increased the power of the Assembly card somewhat, but not too much. Gave a reason to pick the card other than wanting to be Speaker.
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Scott Randolph
United States
Arvada
Colorado
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Vandervecken wrote: I ran a game of this with my good friend Robo Fish recently.
The conclusion we reached was that this:
a) increased the play time for Politics (though we played 4-player so Assembly came up every round.
b) massively improved the arbitrary nature of politics cards, such as dealing with the problem where a random politics card shows up that completely fucks you.
c) increased the power of the Assembly card somewhat, but not too much. Gave a reason to pick the card other than wanting to be Speaker.
Right on, sounds like just what the doctor ordered.
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